Density enhancement method for wool pile fabric

ABSTRACT

A density enhancement method for a wool pile fabric comprising simultaneously knitting a plurality of shorter sheared wool fibers and a plurality of longer sheared wool fibers to a backing material. The mixture of the shorter and the longer wool fibers enhances the density of the wool pile fabric and closely replicates the density of natural shearling.

PRIORITY CLAIM

The present non-provisional application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/618,470 filed on Mar. 30, 2012, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/651,922 filed on May 25, 2012, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/680,608 filed on Aug. 7, 2012 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/722,994 filed on Nov. 6, 2012, each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a sheared wool fabric that closely approximates shearling and can be used in lieu of shearling in many applications. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a method of manufacturing a sheared wool fabric that has the same or similar fiber density as natural or genuine shearling.

Shearling is a sheepskin hide with natural wool fleece that goes through a grooming process so that the wool fibers of the fleece have a uniform depth. The resultant shearling provides a uniform look and feel that is desirable to consumers. FIG. 1 is a cross-section of natural shearling comprising wool fleece 10 extending from sheepskin hide 12. The wool fleece 10 is typically thicker or denser near the hide 12 and narrows or is less dense at the top or point furthest from the hide. As a result, natural shearling fleece is denser and thicker at the base of the wool (i.e., wool portion that is closest to the hide), which causes the fleece to feel soft and comfortable on a person's skin. Shearling is used in many products such as shoes, boots, coats and rugs.

The cost associated with shearling products depends on the quality and the availability of sheepskin. Sheepskin quality varies considerably depending on many factors, including environmental factors. Accordingly, sheepskin is graded based on whether the sheepskin is a higher quality, i.e., little to no imperfections in the leather, or a lower quality, i.e., having many imperfections. Shearling quality and price is also impacted by the types of sheep that the shearling comes from. Certain types of sheep are more desirable because they produce better quality skins and/or softer fleece. Also, the number of the quality sheepskins available to manufacture the above products is limited by the number of sheep that are available. As demand for shearling and natural fleece products grows, the cost associated therewith also grows.

Accordingly, there is a need for an alternative to shearling that replicates the desirable qualities of sheepskin and reduces the associated costs.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The present density enhancement method includes simultaneously knitting shorter and longer wool fibers with a backing material to replicate the density of natural shearling and thereby the comfort and feel of natural shearling.

In an embodiment, the present density enhancement method includes simultaneously knitting a plurality of shorter sheared wool fibers and a plurality of longer sheared wool fibers to a backing material. The mixture of the shorter and the longer wool fibers enhances the density of the wool pile fabric to closely replicate the density of natural shearling.

In another embodiment, the present density enhancement method includes mixing a plurality of shorter sheared wool fibers and a plurality of longer wool fibers together and simultaneously knitting the mixture of shorter and longer wool fibers to a textile scrim.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-section view of natural fleece.

FIG. 2 is a cross-section view of an embodiment of the present finished wool pile fabric including wool fibers having different lengths.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the invention are described below by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings include schematic figures that may not be to scale, which will be fully understood by skilled artisans with reference to the accompanying description. Features may be exaggerated for purposes of illustration. From the preferred embodiments, artisans will recognize additional features and broader aspects of the invention.

The present disclosure is relate to a method of manufacturing a wool pile fabric described in commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/838,551, entitled “Natural Wool Pile Fabric and Method for Making Wool Pile Fabric,” which is incorporated herein.

The present disclosure is directed to a method of processing sheared wool, securing it to a textile scrim, and finishing the same to make a sheared wool, natural fleece, deep pile fabric that can be used in lieu of shearling in making footwear, apparel and other products. The wool pile fabric formed by the process of the present invention closely approximates shearling. In one application, the wool pile fabric is used to make artificial shearling for use as a liner for footwear, coats, gloves and other products in lieu of natural shearling.

The present disclosure provides a sheared wool product, and more specifically, a wool pile fabric including sheared wool that is knit with a base material, such as a natural material or synthetic yarn, such as polyester. As shown in FIG. 2, longer wool fibers 20 are mixed with shorter wool fibers 22 and knit with a base material, which in this embodiment, is a textile scrim 24. It is contemplated that a predetermined ratio of the longer wool fibers 20 and the shorter wool fibers 22 are mixed together prior to being knit to the base material. In one embodiment, 75% of the longer fibers and 25% of the shorter wool fibers are mixed together prior to knitting the wool fibers to the backing material. It should be appreciated that other ratios of longer fibers and shorter fibers may mixed together prior to the knitting the fibers to the backing material.

The knitting of the shorter fibers with the longer fibers creates an artificial fleece or wool pile fabric that has a greater density at the base or bottom of the fibers, which are nearest to the scrim 24, and less density at the ends of the wool fibers.

In one embodiment, the longer or taller wool fibers 20 are interwoven with the shorter or smaller wool fibers 22 to the base material 24 so that the taller and shorter fibers or groups of the taller and shorter fibers alternate as shown on the left side of FIG. 2. The addition of the shorter fibers 22 increases the number of fibers per area on the base material 24 to increase the density of the fibers near the base material. Since the shorter fibers 22 are not the same length as the longer fibers 20, the density of wool fibers is greater at an inner portion of the fleece, i.e., near or adjacent to the base material, than at an outer portion of the fleece, i.e., at the ends of the longer wool fibers.

In another embodiment, the wool pile fabric is manufactured such that the longer wool fibers 20 and the shorter wool fibers 22 are simultaneously knit with the scrim 24 based on a predetermined ratio of longer wool fibers 20 and shorter wool fibers 22 as shown on the right side of FIG. 2. For example, the wool pile fabric may include 75% of the longer fibers and 25% of the shorter fibers. It should be appreciated that other ratios of longer fibers and shorter fibers may be used to make the wool pile fabric.

In the above embodiments, the wool pile fabric may be attached to an outer material, facing material or artificial hide such as a synthetic material, leather, synthetic leather, rubber, foam, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) or other suitable material.

The density enhancement method described in the above embodiments produces a wool pile fabric that closely replicates the density and feel of natural or genuine shearling and can be used for making many different products including footwear, apparel and floor coverings such as rugs.

While particular embodiments of the present density enhancement method has been described herein, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the invention in its broader aspects. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A density enhancement method for a wool pile fabric comprising simultaneously knitting a plurality of shorter sheared wool fibers and a plurality of longer sheared wool fibers with a yarn to form a wool pile fabric having a variable density wool pile side and a scrim side.
 2. The method of claim 2, wherein the yarn is polyester.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the knitting step includes knitting a group of the shorter wool fibers and a group of the longer wool fibers to the backing material.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the knitting step includes alternatingly knitting the group of shorter wool fibers and the group of longer wool fibers to the backing material.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the knitting step includes knitting the shorter wool fibers and the longer wool fibers to the backing material based on a predetermined ratio of the short wool fibers and the long wool fibers.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the predetermined ratio includes 25% of the shorter wool fibers and 75% of the longer wool fibers.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising attaching a facing material to the backing material.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the facing material includes one of a synthetic material, leather, a synthetic leather, rubber and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA).
 9. A density enhancement method for a wool pile fabric comprising mixing a plurality of shorter sheared wool fibers and a plurality of longer wool fibers together; and simultaneously knitting the mixture of shorter and longer wool fibers to a textile scrim.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the textile scrim is made of polyester.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the mixing step includes mixing a predetermined ratio of the shorter wool fibers and the longer wool fibers together prior to the mixing step.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the predetermined ratio includes 25% of the shorter wool fibers and 75% of the longer wool fibers.
 13. The method of claim 9, further comprising attaching a facing material to the scrim.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the facing material includes one of a synthetic material, leather, a synthetic leather, rubber and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA). 